New puppy cannot be left alone and I am worried about work

[Adrundel]

I got a new puppy who’s nearly 6 months old last weekend- I absolutely love him!
I purposefully got a slightly older puppy as work and while I work from home I do need to go into office too/ I had a plan of doggy daycare 1 day and a dog walker on the other office days to break the day up.l where I’m in the office. I have time off work to settle him which has been going wonderfully.

However, the pup can not be left (and I mean for seconds) without crying, barking, howling.
i nipped out and was watching him on the camera and he chewed my bag and a basket and was crying. When I came back in, he had weed inside and had been so stressed he was drooling and quite wet. The area was puppy safe- I have absolutely no idea how the bag was knocked down from the table- it must have fallen as on the camera it was on the table at one point.
I couldn’t care less about objects or cleaning up- I am just worried about the puppy’s wellbeing. I thought I had a solid plan for office days and feel absolutely stressed and over whelmed now.

i have done a lot of researching and everything says about building up but I can’t not go back to work after Easter. Also the second (as in second too!) I leave the room to start building up he is quite hysterical.

A full days doggy day care for all the days is also financially not possible but of course I’m not going to leave him in distress but i really can’t stress how much financial pressure it’ll be for me.

he had a big walk and had been toilet/ eaten/ left with licky mat/ radio on. He isn’t crate trained but has a soft pen (crate like)- even if I am sat with him he goes absolutely beserk to the point where I was worried he’d hurt himself if the door is shut. I am also concerned re noise levels of him barking/ howling.

I have literally spent all night researching there is quite alot of conflicting advice. I also know he’s very new but I am sure you can understand why I am so worried. He has settled in beautifully apart from this. I have contacted a dog trainer tonight to try and cover all bases- I just want him to be happy :(

I would very much welcome any advice/ stories of reassurance.

Highly recommend door is a bore method!
You arent pups 'family' yet, they need much more time to settle in and trust you, you sound like a really caring dog owner but I must admit I am a bit surprised to see you thought you'd be at the stage of leaving them for that long after only a week, especially given its a chi - what sites or resources did you use for your breed research, as maybe people can point you towards more reliable ones for your next dog, as the seperation anxiety in chihuahuas is extremely well known! Did you by any chance have a different breed before? Or have you always had chihuahuas from a child and just never had problems so maybe weren't aware of the reputation? I think there are a breed specific online groups on things like Facebook you might find really handy if thats the case! This is workable long term but yeah, pup needs way more time as this is a big environment change and you need breed specific support.

Needy dogs like this fare far better if there is another dog in the house. Either get another dog, or send the puppy back. It will be months before he can accept being left alone.

I'd be very interested in whether yours is the first home this puppy has gone to. I also wonder if you've got the full tale from the breeder.

Unfortunately, you’ve got a dog from a breed well known to have quite significant behavioural issues (indoor urination, severe SA…) from someone who sounds wholly irresponsible to have sold a puppy to someone with no plan and not much understanding of how a six month old puppy will settle into a new home. TBH almost certainly a puppy farm.

You have two options: either rehome the dog or commit to working from home/taking more leave. Sounds like you can’t do the second so you’ll need to do the former. In this instance, I’d rehome to a breed specific rescue - because you certainly should not be returning a dog to a puppy farm.

TBH I’m quite bemused you got a dog if you consider it a financial stretch even at this stage. The breed you’ve chosen isn’t exactly the pinnacle of health and the economy is a wreck - it’s only going to get worse. I’m genuinely surprised you’ve had dogs before.

I think you will have to pay for additional doggy day care in the short term whilst you work really hard on the separation anxiety.

As a chihuahua owner, you're not a good fit for this dog. They cannot be crate trained, and will only be happy sleeping with you. They cannot be left for extended periods, ever, certainly not for the length of a standard working day with only a dog walk. They're not compatible with households where there isn't someone at home almost all the time.

We can leave our 5 year old chi for 4 hours now, but we built up to that with extensive work and training, and she's pretty chilled as chis go.

Did you not research the breed at all?

Could you use something like Trusted Housesitters while you find a solution? Or get a friend to work from yours while you resolve this?

Thank you

I am going to have respectfully push back on this though- the puppy drops in plus day care is over 550 a month which is within budget but obviously understandably an expense. If I used the daycare it would be 710 which tips it into a stretch. I stressed this as anticipated I’d get lots of replies suggesting increasing day care.

i will pay it of course if need to as i said originally. I have comprehensive insurance, have already taken him to the vets etc. I will take criticism on board but i dont think this is fair to suggest I can’t afford the dog or haven’t thought about finances. I would suggest I’m probably in a better financial position then most (relatively) but that doesn’t mean adding over 150 pounds doesn’t mean something is less do-able.

it is perhaps a puppy farm- it’s not a hill I’ll die on but I followed advice on here around contacting the breeder, not using websites like pets for homes and she said she had this chap from a previous litter. She seemed perhaps a bit eccentric rather than a puppy farmer to me

I’ve had chihuahua for years. Firstly the setup with the breeder is incredibly common, I’ve met plenty of chihuahua breeders who have had a house full. It’s very common for them to let them grow on and see if they are good for showing. If not they generally get rehomed, I wouldn’t be surprised if your little one hasn’t been socialised outside of the house much or if any at all.
Chihuahua mature very slowly, and are very needy. Most importantly they are not like other dogs. That really has to said. They are not easy to train.
Clever yes, easily trainable no. They generally have a mind of their own.
It has taken years to toilet train and theirs still the odd accident.
The main thing I would say is let the little one settle in, it’s used to being surrounded with loads of dogs 24/7. It’s a huge adjustment. And get them in the habit of going to the toilet just before you feed them, they thrive on a routine.
If you have any chihuahua questions just message me xxx

I thought this.

Yes- of course!

I’ve had my own chihuahua before (many years ago) who was very happy and well looked after. She was a rescue dog and I did lots and lots of intensive work with her and transformed her into a confident, happy soul.

I’m sure you had the best of intentions but you bought a dog that has spent six months as part of a pack and you were hoping he’d be settled and well trained enough to be left after a week?!

the owner sounds really dodgy, of course he hasn’t been properly

I wouldn’t send him back but you’ll have to committ by paying for daycare and training or somehow taking leave/wfh for the forseeable

if he’s chilled when he has company I wonder if your work would accept him to accompany you sometimes. My previous work had a colleague who brought her dog in on Fridays and none of us had an issue, but that was probably mostly as he was very chilled out

Thank you
ive been doing a bit of this this morning, he doesn’t seem to mind if I put shoes on, grab keys etc it’s just when I’m not in eyesight but going to keep working on it. He’s been sleeping in my bed with me but last night slept in his bed next to my bed happily and woke me up very waggy!

I had my own chihuahua before- I do know they’re quite unique dogs and perhaps not “typical” dogs.

it is way over a week too until I’d be back in the office- I can work from home and have annual leave over Easter. I don’t want to sound picky or ungrateful for comments but I think this part wasn’t clear and I understand why someone may query getting a young dog then 7 days letter going back to office.

Thank you.

unfortunately, there is absolutely no way I could take the dog to work due to the setting I work in. Shame as he’d be a beautiful little office dog!

Very much in agreement with last posters.. I've had dogs since I was 13, mostly border collies, a few other breeds, 3 rescues.. we've always had 2 dogs,used to be 3.. when DD was a teen,we had 2 border collies, she wanted a chi, I did the research and for all the issues shown here by an owner said no. We settled on a phalane. He was great with the other dogs, and although a toy breed,daft lap dog, could happily do a couple of hours to the top of the downs with the borders, and could be left a few hours..(we've used dog flaps for over 25 years, the 2 weeks have now, have 50 ft of garden safely fenced off for themselves,if we go out.) You still have to work on the leaving. The barking is also an issue with chi s..

Do you know anyone else who can take him into work as an office dog ?

Yes I had the fill in a form before I could even go and was transparent about what I proposing to do. She asked for the details to the dog walker too so was fully aware.

'Rescuing' him from a puppy farm/back street breeder isn't a positive thing, it is just encouraging more poor breeding and more poor puppies into the same situation. There is absolutely nothing to say well done about.

OP Chi's are well known as velcro dogs, they often bond very strongly to one person and were bred specifically for companionship. I would also anticipate that a dog that small and anxious will find doggy daycare completely overwhelming and may not like it at all. I'm not sure what the answer is OP but this is not going to be sorted ready for you to go back to work.

Do you have a friend/neighbour/family member that would have him while you work? That would be the best solution, and you could give them the money you'd have been paying the walker and daycare.

This dog already had a routine and it’s been broken. It’s going to be hard work.

You need to get in a new routine asap and build up slowly, leave the room initially 5 mins, 10 mins, then go outside, then drive off, leave a radio on. I’d also get a metal crate. I’m not a massive fan of crates, I think they should be used when the pup is a puppy, then gotten rid of. I have a puppy and am building up to hopefully getting rid of the crate, she loves it and it’s her safe place. I don’t leave her in there for hours, the door is open now but she prefers it closed for bed time. I’ll be getting her spayed at around eighteen months old so will keep it for that as she needs to be calm and quiet. DH and I both work from home but it was essential to me that she be able to work up to 2-4 hours of being left once or twice a week.

Borrow my doggy- might let you down as no money changes hands, there might be trust issues, it’s not solving your problem either as you’ll be tied to the dog forever which isn’t practical.
Do you have neighbours that the barking will affect? That’s possibly going to be the toughest hurdle whilst you get in a routine.

I see you recently posted you had one before as a rescue, I am guessing this was an older dog, not a puppy.. so some of the issues had been addressed.

Thank you

I’m not being defensive of the breeder as obviously don’t know but I really don’t think it was a puppy farm. She showed the dogs and this chaps left ear and were the reason she didn’t keep him on. She was quite eccentric (I hope she doesn’t read this!) and really did grill me. It was perhaps a bit of a different set up with all the dogs but they did seem her pets.

im not sure he’s as socialised as she said though I will admit but obviously he’s in a brand new environment so hard to judge.

Yes it was difficult to age her as her teeth weren’t poor (common in chis) but she was around 2/4.
she really was a labour of love as was initially quite a troubled soul but she was amazing.
i adored her.

Some really harsh comments! You sound like you have a plan and lots of great training ideaa. This weekend is key - try and lower your anxiety (dog will pick up on it) and crack on with training.
Hard not to focus loads of attention onto a cute puppy but how you engage with them while you are in the room is important for separation anxiety too - they need to learn to be ignored and not the focus of attention to be secure in being alone.
i don’t know if you’ve had Chis before but they really need to be treated like dogs, not babies. I had a crate trained well behaved and secure attached Chi but took trainjng and consistency. You’ll be ok! Put the work in it will pay off x

When you take on a dog there's a lot of unknowns until you get to know the actual dog. We ended up changing our lives significantly with ours, sounds like you may need to too.